


Liveblog my Heart

by sapphireluna



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: DJWifi, F/M, Marinette and Adrien are there too but they're not the focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6647995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphireluna/pseuds/sapphireluna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nino is growing more and more upset that Alya chooses to spend more time with her phone and her blog that with him. Since it's impossible to get her to drop her hobby, he decides the only way he can get her to see him is if she sees him through her blog. There's only one way to make that happen, and Ladybug and Chat Noir will be helping whether they want to or not.<br/>DJWifi, because there is not enough pure DJWifi fics out there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was really craving DJWifi fics and couldn't find any so I decided to just write one. I love the love square as much as the next person, but give these guys some love too!

“Today’s test was rough, uh?”

“Uh-uh.”

Nino’s gaze went from the Seine river to Alya’s thumbs firing away on her cell phone, her face focused on the tiny screen.

“Did you know Revenge of the Space Zombies 2 comes out next week?” the boy commented as he scooted closer to his girlfriend on the wooden bench. 

“Uh-uh.”

Tempted by her bare neck, Nino delicately pushed Alya’s hair behind her shoulder, while she remained occupied with her device, completely oblivious to her boyfriend’s lips running up her neck. The young man furrowed his brow when the attempt to steal her attention away from her blog failed.

“So, what do you want to do tonight?” he tried.

“Uh-uh.”

Nino let out a loud sigh and pulled away. Alya finally lowered her phone and turned to him.

“What is it?” The annoyed tone of her voice did not help soothe Nino’s mood.

“You’re not even listening to me! Put your damn phone down!”

“Sorry!” She set the device down next to her. “I’ve just been replying to comments on my last blog entry. There’s like a million to go through!” Relieved to see a smile return to the boy’s face, she moved closer, pecking his cheek. “What were you saying?”

“I was saying, what do you want to do tonight?”

“Well we could--” Alya was interrupted by the notification tone of her phone. Her eyes quickly glanced to her phone, then back at Nino. “We could go to this café I’ve been meaning--” One more notification cut her off. She tried to ignore it and continue talking. “I’ve been meaning to try. I hear they make a really good--” Then there were two more tones. The girl’s entire being was urging her to check her phone at that point. There it was, right next to her, calling to her. All notifications for her. She fought back the intense desire to say ‘Let me just get this...’

Nino hung his head back with an exasperated sigh.

“Go ahead. I know you’re dying to...”

“Thanks!”

Alya literally dove for her phone and quickly got through the password-protected lockscreen and started punching in more letters with an excited “No way!” escaping her lips as she read whatever it was she was seeing.

Nino stared at her with bored eyes, his cheek resting in his hand. He lost to a phone. Harsh.

######

The early September wind was warm that evening. That new hip café that had just opened was right around the corner and Nino was opened to all opportunities to see Alya outside of school settings. The girl had promised not to touch her phone at all, but Nino could see its shape plainly in the back pocket of her jeans (not that he made a habit of staring at that general area of her body, mind you). Well, he had his phone on him too, so it was only fair she could at least carry hers. For emergencies and whatnot. 

Tonight there were having an actual date, with no blogs or interviews coming in between them, and Nino could maybe get the make-out session he had been hoping for all day. It was going to be a nice little evening between the two of them. 

Right, it was just him and Alya...and a crowd of screaming people coming right their way?

Plumes of smoke in the distance caught Alya’s attention while Nino stopped one man from the wave of citizens that passed them.

“What’s happening, dude?”

“I don’t know, some kind of new monster? If you live around here, you should know by now.”

The man had a point. A new akuma attack? What else was new. And if there was an akuma, then Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn’t be very far behind. And if these too were nearby, then Alya was...

Nino looked around. He made a 360 rotation. He called. The street was now deserted.

Yep, Alya had ditched him. 

One date. One date with no Ladyblog-related disturbance was all he had asked... 

“God, why did I pick the technology-inclined crazy fangirl!”

The boy’s aggravated groan echoed in the empty alley as he ran towards the sounds of battle growing closer. Yes, he was pissed his girlfriend walked out on him (not the first time, either), but he still had to make sure she remained safe. Alya had a very bad habit of putting herself in danger by getting ridiculously close to the action just for the sake of a good filming angle.

He turned a final corner before what could only be described as giant teeth planted in the ground came into view. Above the clean pearly whites, an akuma dressed in a smock and wielding a giant tooth drill fended off against Chat Noir’s baton and Ladybug’s yo-yo. 

“This is what happens to kids who eat too much candy!” 

Nino somehow recognized his akumatized dentist and made a mental note to call in for an overdue appointment. Although that drill and the terrifying sound it made were a downright deterrent to go. Maybe he’d wait...

Hiding behind a giant tooth, Alya filmed Ladybug’s prowess with her usual thrilled expression and sparkles in her eyes and completely missed Nino running up to her. He put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to have her turn to him, but when in Ladybug-mode, Alya was in completely different universe where she could not see nor hear anything that was not red with polka dots.

“Babe, you’re too close. Let’s at least get back a little. That dude looks like bad news, have you seen that drill?”

The girl kept filming and shooed her interlocutor away with a hand gesture in his general direction. Growing more uneasy and impatient, he looked up at the two heroes who were still engaging the aptly named Mr. Cavity. The boy had to admit they were quite a sight and him too enjoyed watching their battles from a front seat. Although nobody could measure up to her in terms of Ladybug obsession (well there possibly was Chat Noir, but that was a different story), Nino also thought Ladybug was beyond awesome. Who didn’t? However, Ladybug and Chat Noir each had told them in the past to stay away or they’d be in danger. Nino was simply trying to respect their wishes, and avoid getting stabbed, maimed, crushed or whatever else the villain of the day had in store.

Alya was a different story. She had no fear. She would rush headfirst into danger with no regards to her own safety. Some might have called it brave, but some might have called it having a death wish. If she could get a scoop, whether it was for the school blog or her Ladyblog, she was there. If heroes were out defending citizens, she was there. If villains threatened the peace, she was there. Her drive to seek the truth and report everything at all costs was endearing, Nino had to admit, but it was also infuriating sometimes.

Chat Noir was hit by a giant tooth and crashed to the ground.

“Looks like you’re lacking calcium!” Mr. Cavity cackled.

The cat smashed the tooth with a single strike of his weapon and flashed the akuma a shining smile.

“Oh no, I have a saucer of milk every morning!”

Irritated, the evil dentist raised his enormous drill and prepared to go after Ladybug when he caught sight of the two bystanders. He suddenly changed his course and aimed directly for Alya and Nino.

“Oh wow, I can’t believe this!” the girl actually smiled, phone still in hand.

“Get back!” Her boyfriend pulled her wrist but Alya’s feet remained cemented on the floor. “Alya, come on!” Nino pleaded, voice heavy with urgency. “I’m sure you’re not that desperate for a free dental appointment!”

Ladybug gasped as she finally noticed her two friends had been there the whole time. The bag of bubble gum she had just invoked with her Lucky Charm was flung at the akuma’s feet just before Alya’s entire face got drilled. The akuma stepped and tripped on the round candy, face-planting as you’d expect to see in a cartoon. Chat Noir used the opportunity to steal Mr. Cavity’s drill and hurled it towards his partner who smashed it on the concrete, releasing the black butterfly inside.

While Ladybug purified it and restored the damage made to the area, Chat Noir checked on the couple.

“You two okay? Why didn’t you escape?”

Nino huffed, a hand to his chest. That had been a close one! “That’s what I’d like to know!” he retorted with a look in Alya’s direction.

“We’re fine!” the girl waved in a dismissive manner. “There was never a doubt in my mind that Ladybug would save us!”

“True as that may be,” Ladybug started as she approached the group, “I don’t want to risk there being a time when I don’t make it in time.”

“I can’t believe I’m being scolded by Ladybug!” the fangirl beamed.

“We’re really sorry, LB.” Nino bowed his head in apology, almost embarrassed by his girlfriend.

A beep sounded the deadline for the heroes’ transformation. Alya stepped closer as the two prepared to run off.

“Before you go, anything to add to your fans?”

Chat Noir grinned at the camera and gave a peace sign.

“Always remember to brush your teeth, kids!”

“And stay out of trouble,” Ladybug added with notably less enthusiasm than her colleague. 

And with that, the two saviors zoomed away. Once their silhouettes disappeared in the sunset, Alya finally put down her phone. The regular sounds of the city slowly came back and the world resumed its normal life, if only until the next attack. Nino took his girlfriend’s hand.

“That was close...Well, shall we resume our initial plan now?” With all the action, he had almost forgotten their goal had been to try that new café.

Alya stole her hand back and pressed it against her other one in front of her in a praying manner.

“Sorry! I really need to go edit that footage and upload it on my blog! Do you mind if we push this back to another time? Thousands of fans are waiting for this!”

Nino looked at her pleading eyes and suppressed his disappointment.

“Sure, whatever...”

“Oh thanks!”

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and ran off in the direction of her home. Now all alone, Nino let out a nervous laugh.

Ditched again. Twice in the same evening!

 

#####

 

At least six sighs escaped Nino’s lips as he silently made his way back home. He did not even feel like listening to music. That’s how you knew he was upset.

Once home, he took off his shoes with a low _hey_ to his mother.

“Back already? I thought you were going out with Alya?” the curious woman asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

Back in his room, lied in bed, staring at the blank ceiling. That evening had not been how he had expected it. None of the previous evenings had been. Was he considering reconsidering his relationship with his girlfriend? After all, it had been spurred from a single afternoon spent together. What if it was shallow and not meant to be?

How did it even happen in the first place? He had never especially paid attention to the new girl in the class until she became good friends with Marinette. Even then, she was only _Marinette’s friend_ in his head for a while before she became _Alya._ He’d had a crush on Marinette for several months, after all. Who knows what would have happened if Alya and him had not been stuck in a cage at the zoo together while Ladybug fought the bad guy. Maybe he’d still be after Marinette today. What if them getting together had been just a fluke?

Alya was so stubborn. Reckless, single-minded and frustrating, too. Not to add persistent and relentless. And how was it possible for someone to be both selfless and selfish? One second she could stand up for you and destroy anyone who tried to get in your way, the next she could abandon you to your fate and run off to do her own thing.

Nino grit his teeth as images of Alya and her phone flashed in his mind. Maybe they were not compatible in the end.

That girl was aggravating with her unfolding will and her selfishness. Her shining smile and her annoying rash attitude and obstinateness. And those dazzling eyes and her irritating tendency for danger, her arrogance and her sense of humor and her carelessness, her courage, forgetfulness and hard work. And her beauty and charm, and her diligence and amazing confidence and her soft lips and...and...

Oh who was he kidding? He was madly in love with her! 

Mad about her, but also currently mad at her. But despite the neglect, he couldn’t help being smitten with the girl. Alya was perfect!

No wait. He took that back.

Alya was anything but perfect! And that’s what was perfect about her. She had a few flaws. Okay, she had a lot of flaws, but so did he and honestly who didn’t? She still made his heart beat faster despite it all.

When Adrien had tried to set him and Marinette up, stuttering was the only thing he had been able to gush out. He who usually was confident and honest, had surprised himself by sweating bullets and even lying to Marinette to cover his embarrassment. The boy had not been himself.

Once he was trapped with Alya for a whole afternoon, there had been awkward silences and petty small talk at first, the girl being nervous after overhearing he had romantic feelings for her (that had only been a lie for so long). However,  the conversation quickly started to flow once the ice was broken.

They had talked about the misunderstanding and laughed when they had realized that both Adrien and Alya had been communicating with their respective timid friend through earphones. Then, Marinette liking Adrien had accidentally slipped out and Nino mentally slapped himself in the forehead for not seeing the signs earlier. It all made sense then. He had refused to feel sorry for himself and instead decided they were a good pair and he’d root for them.

The two captives had continued to chat, about music (they only had Jagged Stone in common), about movies (they were both into Revenge of the Space Zombies), about school (ugh Chloé was so annoying), about their siblings (she had two mischievous younger sisters and he had one serious older brother) and many other subjects. They had so much in common and speaking to Alya had been so simple and effortless, like they’d known each other for years. She had been supportive about the whole Marinette likes someone else thing, but he soon had discovering he wasn’t upset about it at all.

He was discovering an amazing girl. During an enthusiastic conversation about Android vs iOS, his hand accidentally had found its way on top of hers and neither had made an effort to pull away. They had simply clicked. So much that there was almost a pang of disappointment when a confused zoo keeper finally let them out.

The next day, they were officially low-key dating.

Shaking the months-old memories away, Nino finally sprung up to his feet and to his computer. He clicked his bookmark for the Ladyblog and admired his girlfriend’s life work. 

Every appearance of Ladybug was thoroughly documented. Videos were attached to most of the entries and Alya was still beating herself up for the very few Ladybug sightings she had been unable to film. Nino praised himself for his video-editing skills but Alya surpassed him in this department. Every piece of 1080x720 HD footage was neatly cut, edited and assembled. 

Nino had been delighted that time when she had asked him if she could use one of his mixes as background music for her _Best of Ladybug Battles_ compilation. His music remixes had a decent amount of views on Youtube but his popularity soared after Alya plugged him and he was so grateful for that. He spent evenings painstakingly remixing popular songs and dreaming of the day he’d be hired to DJ a celeb party. Maybe a party in Ladybug’s honor? Music was everything to him, after all. 

Just like how Alya’s blog was everything to her.

Nino hung his head back on his computer chair and gave himself a spin when it hit him. Alya’s feelings for reporting and blogging were the same as his were for music and remixes. The difference only being she spent more time on her hobby than him. News were everywhere, after all.

The boy’s mood mellowed down and he even found himself feeling sorry for not being more understanding of the young reporter. Duty came before love. Although he was still upset he didn’t get to see his girlfriend. What could he do to allow Alya to work on her hobby but have her spend time with him at the same time?

How could he compete with Ladybug?

At that moment, the Ladyblog updated with an article and footage from today’s akuma attack. He quickly skimmed through it, the battle still very fresh in his head. Nino saw himself very briefly in the video. It was at the moment when he had pulled on Alya’s wrist and she had slightly turned towards him, capturing him in the process.

That’s when the young man had an idea. If Alya would spend more time with her blog than with him, the logical solution was to make sure he’d be on the blog.

And there was only one way to do that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's raining cats and dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized "Liveblog my heart" is a super cheesy title and I am so sorry.

“Their new album comes out next week, I’m so psyched!”

Nino and Adrien chatted excitedly about their musical preferences while the classroom slowly filled with more students as they awaited their morning class. Nino’s favorite band’s logo, Mind’s Eye, was always featured on his favorite t-shirt. He had been trying to persuade Adrien to come with him to the band’s next concert. The blond boy had never been to a concert other than Jagged Stone and that one had been pure luck. Talk about being at the right place at the right moment for the mayor himself to give you tickets.

The sound of cheerful chatter grew louder as Alya and Marinette entered the classroom, laughing from a previous conversation. The shorter girl greeted both of the boys happily before settling in her place.

“Hey Adrien. Hey cutie,” the taller girl teased while poking the latter’s nose. “Sorry about yesterday.”

“Water under the bridge,” Nino replied with a smile.

A torrent of water, perhaps, but under the bridge nonetheless. Alya’s straightforwardness and his honesty often meant fights broke out between them. They were prone to bickering but someone always joked on how close they looked when they argued. Their quarrels were never serious. Plus the make-up make-out that always resulted from it was pretty sweet... 

His eyes followed her as she walked passed to her seat. That girl had hips that could kill a man. Not to mention totally luscious lips and those--

Nino shook his head, chasing impure thoughts away. Respect, dude! Yeah. He respected her much more that. Plus school wasn’t an appropriate place for this.

What Nino did not know was that Alya spent class biting her bottom lip staring at the dark skin of his neck and the square of his shoulders. Just because Nino had never thought of himself as anything special did not mean she felt the same. Marinette sometimes had to elbow her discreetly to switch her attention back to class before the teacher noticed.

The morning went on normally until noon came. The couple had lunch together while Adrien and Marinette each returned home as they usually did during the break. However, Adrien did not come back for the last period. An emergency photo shoot, perhaps. Marinette excused herself to the bathroom right at the start of physics class and took her sweet time there, apparently.

Nino felt sorry for her. Poor girl must have weak bowels or something. Alya sighed out of boredom. Without her best friend, she doodled ladybugs in her notebook, trying to suppress her intense desire to take out her phone but thought better of it. Their physics teacher was notorious for confiscating electronics used during class.

The final godsent bell resounded in the school. 

Marinette had not come back from the bathroom and Adrien was still a no-show. Somewhat worried, Alya walked to the girls bathroom while Nino waited outside, texting Adrien. He just wanted to make sure his pal had the situation under control, whatever that situation was. 

“She's not in there, “ Alya noted once she came out. “Maybe she felt sick and went home.”

“Do you want to stop by to see her? “ Nino offered. 

The girl shook her head. “Nah, if she's sick she's probably resting. Let's just go home. “ Her motherly side did tell her to go check on her best friend, but her girlfriend side thought Nino might like walking home together after yesterday's ditching. And it’s not like it was the first time Marinette pulled something like that, anyways.

Right outside the school grounds, Alya’s eyes lit up when a small white dog ran up to her. She bent down to pet it while her boyfriend looked on fondly. There was a thing about girls and cute dogs...

“Hello little guy! Are you lost? “

The dog became nervous under her touch and ran away. The girl shrugged. Must have seen its owner or something. The two headed in the direction of their neighborhoods. They houses were in different areas but there had a couple of streets to walk together before having to split up. 

“Aw man, “ the boy whined, “I can't believe how much math homework she gave us! I mean, give us a break dude! “

“I know, she's relentless. I'm sure that was punishment for when Kim made--”

Alya’s sentence was interrupted by a man being chased by a German Shepard. The man ran up the safety of a nearby boutique while the dog barked and growled in front of the door. The pair decided to run passed quickly before the dog decided to come after them next. 

After turning the next street corner, two dogs were rummaging through garbage. They were too busy to notice the humans tiptoeing being them. 

“Dude, what is up with the dogs today? Did they all escape from the pound or what?” Nino commented. 

“I don't know but I hear more barking over there so we better hurry. “

As they kept going, they soon stopped dead in their tracks when they came across an usually busy boulevard covered with dozens of dogs. There were dogs sleeping on the sidewalks, dogs fighting against one another, dogs gnawing on benches and abandoned bikes. 

“This city has gone to the dogs. Literally. “ Nino’s joke fell flat before Alya who instinctively took a step back behind the young man. This was definitely not normal.

“Hey, who let the dogs out? “

The couple’s ears perked at the sound of a familiar voice. In the park across the street, Chat Noir was taunting an akuma that looked like it could have won first place at the masquerade in a furry convention. Except this was no costume. With his pointed ears, tail and fur coat, K-9 apparently had been upset his beloved dog had not been allowed in an elite spa. Relaxation for the whole family they advertised. So why was a dog who was like family not allowed in?

Ladybug stood nearby, spinning her yo-yo in front of her to shield herself from the snarling canines. The akuma noticed a woman who was too terrified of two bichons nipping at her heels to move and lassoed her with a glowing leash. The bystander instantly morphed into the form of a dog and howled. Well that explained the unusually high amount of dogs running loose. She and three more dogs turned to growl at Chat Noir. 

“Don't you know cats and dogs don’t get along?” the young hero grinned, jumping back to avoid sharp fangs. 

Phone already held out towards the scene, Alya looked carefully around her to make sure the course was still clear of angry pups. She loved dogs as much as the next person, but this was a bit too much. Nino eyed her carefully and decided on what his next course of action should be. He had been preparing for this moment. 

“Babe, over here! “ He motioned for her to get closer. For once, she actually listened. “You'll be safer and you'll have a better angle if you get up that tree. 

The boy helped the girl climb to a steady branch, high enough that dogs couldn't get to her. 

“Hey I do get a better view from here! “ Alya rejoiced before looking down with worry. “What about you? You can’t just stand there, these pups look hungry.“

Nino gave her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry. “ In a lower voice, he added to himself: “Time to put this plan into action. “

K-9 the akuma blew a soundless whistle. Instantly, all the dogs raised their heads and rushed to him. Ladybug and Chat Noir regrouped as well, waiting for his next move. An object inside K-9’s hand clicked and the dogs lunged at the duo. 

“The akuma must be inside his whistle, “ Ladybug shouted over the sound of dozens of growls. “It's an ultrasound whistle, only the dogs can hear it. “

“I hear _you,_ my lady, “ Chat Noir noted as he dodged a bulldog, “but as you can see, he's got quite the bodyguards.“

The akuma’s hand clicked again and a husky and a rottweiler jumped for the cat's throat. Chat Noir shielded himself just in time, catching the two sets of jaws on his baton. The weight of the two large dogs pushed him to the ground. His back on the hard cement, he was struggling to push the two snarling beasts back. 

Still up in her tree and not missing a second, Alya gasped when she saw a dalmatian hanging on to Ladybug’s yo-yo, pulling a mouthful of its string. The feisty canine preventing her from rescuing her partner from his predicament. The cat grit his teeth and flexed his muscles, attempting to remove the two dogs from his chest but they were pushing down with extraordinary strength. This was an intense dog vs cat fight, and Alya truly hoped Chat Noir would be able to handle it. 

“Back off, doggy!”

Chat Noir and Ladybug’s shocked faces turned to see Nino trying to pull the rottweiler from the hero with the only leash-shaped thing he could find: the wire for his headphones twisted into a noose.

“Holy crap! Where did he come from?“ Alya exclaimed when she saw her boyfriend's face appear in the tiny screen of her phone. She looked up to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her. “Nino, what the hell! “

It was real alright. Although the dog was much stronger than a regular dog would have been, feeling choked by the wire, the rottweiler‘s grip on Chat Noir’s baton weakened and Nino managed to pull the big dog just enough to give Chat Noir a window big enough to kick back the husky and return to his feet. 

“Thanks, but what the heck are you doing here? “ the cat’s voice was a mix of relief and worry. What was his best friend thinking, jumping in a dangerous battle that involved sharp fangs everywhere? 

“You looked like you were in a bad spot and you guys are always saving us, so I figured I could return the favour! “

Their reunion was short-lived because the wire around the rottweiler snapped from all wrangling and the angered husky lunged directly at Nino. The boy instinctively put his arms in front of him in defence, allowing the dog to score a perfect bite on his arm. Chat Noir watched in horror as his friend fell back under the impact, the husky refusing to release its grip on his friend’s arm. Nino winced and grunted in pain as the fangs dug deeper into his skin. 

Oh the things he wouldn’t do for that girl. 

Alya panicked at the sight of blood on her boyfriend's arm. She considered getting down to help him, but what could she do other than offering the dogs another chew toy? Plus Chat Noir was already there, trying to force the beast’s jaws open with his baton, and yet her heart beat faster as she continued to film. 

Finally free on her side after sending the dalmatian flying, Ladybug sent her yo-yo at the dog’s legs and pulled them from under it. The rottweiler released its grip, Chat Noir extended his hand to his best friend and Nino got up on shaky legs. 

K-9 growled when Ladybug’s yo-yo took hold of his tail and flung him across the park, his whistle flying out of his neck in the process. The girl quickly grabbed it and smashed it with her foot. 

Nothing happened. 

Chat Noir stared at his lady in disbelief. “The akuma was not in the whistle?! “ 

Another clicked resounded and the dogs formed a circle around the two superheroes and their wounded friend. The circle was closing in on them. 

“It's dog eat dog out here! “ the akuma cackled. 

“That's a doggone bone statement, mutt! “ the cat hissed. “You’re barking up the wrong tree!”

“Now’s not the time for awful dog puns! “ Ladybug pointed out. “If you haven't noticed, we're about to be eaten alive! “

Another click. The dogs started barking and growling, still slowly advancing. Nino’s eyes grew wide. 

“The akuma is in his clicker! “

“Clicker? “ the cat echoed. 

“A clicker is a thing that owners use to train their dogs. That's what he's been holding in his hand! “ Nino’s bleeding left arm lay numb at his side as he explained. 

“I've got it! “ Ladybug nodded. She raised her arm above her. “Lucky Charm! “ A jar of peanut butter fell into her hands. “What in the world?“

“You're making PB&J’s sandwiches? How nice of you! “ Chat Noir joked. 

“Dogs are crazy about peanut butter, man! “ Nino explained. 

Ladybug scanned her surroundings for the solution. When she found it, she placed a hand on her partners shoulder and looked him in the eye. 

“Chat Noir, I need you to do something. “

“Anything for you, my lady, “ the lovesick boy replied, fighting back a blush at her intense gaze.

“I need you to cover yourself in peanut butter for me. “

“What?”

It was too late for questions, Ladybug had already splattered peanut butter on her partner and pushed him into the herd of dogs. Nino watched in both amusement and horror as Chat Noir disappeared under a pile of tail-wagging dogs, the cat both screaming bloody murder and laughing hysterically at the same time. 

“TONGUE! SO MUCH TONGUE! OH MY GOD!! “

K-9 groaned in frustration and pressed the button on his clicker but the dogs were too happily distracted to react. Ladybug took the opportunity to grab the akuma’s arm with her string, steal the object and smash it. The black butterfly was finally released and purified. “Every dog has its day.”

K-9 turned back into himself, and all the dogs transformed back into their original form, creating the very awkward scene of a dozen of adults licking a superhero… 

Nino was relieved when his aching arm was healed by Ladybug’s magic. That would have left a scar for sure. He was actually more relieved to see the wire of his headphones had also been restored.

The danger now gone, Alya jumped off the tree and ran to the trio. 

“Hey girl, “ her boyfriend casually said as if he never almost got eaten alive.

In place of a greeting she grabbed his arm and inspected it thoroughly on all sides, as if she couldn't believe it was truly fixed. Satisfied not a mark was left, she looked up at Nino, beaming with awe.

“That was...awesome!”

The boy grinned and hid a blush, a hand scratching the back of his head.

“No, that was not awesome!” Ladybug broke in. “It was reckless!”

“Chill, my Lady,” Chat Noir commented. “Nino helped got the dogs off me. Who would want _this_ face to be damaged?” He pointed his thumb at his face while Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Besides, he was the one who found out the akuma was in the clicker and pointed out the dog’s peanut butter-philia.”

“That is true,” Ladybug admitted, rubbing her temples. “But still civilians should stay out of akuma battles. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt on my watch again.”

“Sorry, LB.” Nino apologized but Ladybug couldn't quite feel any remorse in his voice.

The two superheroes soon escaped after that, leaving the two bystanders before their transformations timed out. Nino watched the two figures disappearing among the rooftops and was slightly startled when he felt a head on his shoulder and an arm intertwining with his. 

Holy crap, was Alya actually cuddling?

“Hey, hot stuff,” she smirked. “You've got exactly fifteen minutes and not a second more before I need to run off and upload this. Use them wisely.”

Hey, fifteen minutes was a huge improvement over zero minute. He was so down.

Nino gave her an alluring smile, bringing her closer. “Well then, let’s not waste any time...”

It was impressive the amount of making out one could fit in fifteen minutes.

#####

His whistling resounded in the staircase as Nino entered his apartment building with a skip in his step, the feeling of Alya’s lips on his still very sharp in his memory. His heart felt much lighter with this new cheerful mood. Who knew all it took was a dog trying to eat you alive?

The whistled tune turned into mumbled song lyrics as he threw himself on his computer chair, the force of it making him spin two full rotations. Nino’s fingers drummed on the desk in perfect rhythm while his internet browser loaded. Faithful to her fans, Alya had already updated the Ladyblog.

The boy scrolled through the article describing today’s events, skimming through it until he got to the part talking about him.

_...and courageously jumped in the fray to help out Chat Noir. It quickly backfired when one the dogs bit him but he never once flinched and stood his ground until Ladybug pulled the dog away from him. There isn't much a civilian can do, but you gotta admire that determination._

Nino’s grin only grew wider as he scrolled to the videos of the article. One of them was called _My idiot boyfriend almost gets maimed by a dog._ He winced as he watched it, remembering the pain, but he had to admit he looked pretty badass there!

The real highlight, though, was in the comments section. Among all the praise for Alya’s work and the usual fangirling for Ladybug and Chat Noir, was one particular thread that Nino couldn’t stop smiling about.

_Ladybugfan77: hey ur bf is pretty cute!  
Mod: ikr? he’s mine, though! _

Operation “Make Alya pay attention to me by jumping in the Ladybug action and invading her blog” was a success so far!

That name was a bit too long though. Maybe he’d shorten into Operation “Make Alya see me” or something. 

Regardless, today had been a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I'll do my best.  
> Feedback is welcome.  
> Pssst, lookit my DJWifi art: http://sapphireluna.deviantart.com/art/ML-DJwifi-603470305  
> I may do art specifically for this story later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which old movies from the 90s are referenced, and what's in a name?

Adrien had a pleased smile on his face as he put his gym clothes away in the locker room after gym class.  His superhero reflexes sure had came in handy during dodge ball today.  

The ball that Yvan launched at high force had been meant for Kim,  but the latter had moved out of the way and Marinette who had been standing idly behind him was just about to receive a broken nose.  

Suddenly forgetting her own superhero reflexes in the face of surprise, the girl had frozen in place, accepting her fate, when Adrien jumped in and caught the ball just in time before sending it back towards Yvan, eliminating him when the big guy failed to catch it. 

“Are you okay? “ the blonde had asked the girl.

“Oh I'm ball--I mean--I'm having a ball. No, good.  Fine.  Good catch. Of the ball.  Catching the ball.” Marinette’s arms waved wildly in front of her as words mixed up on her tongue. 

Adrien gave her a confused look and returned his attention to the game. He'd been a second too late however, because when his eyes caught Nino on the opposite team aiming for him,  his attempt to catch the ball failed and he received it in the chest. 

The gym teacher's whistle blew.  “Out! “

Adrien gave Nino a fake hurt look as he walked out the field. 

“Sorry, bro! “the other boy teased.  “All’s fair in love and dodge ball! “

Nino looked up at the other side to see if Alya had seen his awesome move. There was nothing wrong with wanting to show off a tiny bit, right? Adrien was among the best players, so outing him was a brag-worthy achievement.

His enthusiasm deflated when he saw that Alya’s eyes were glued to her phone, sitting on the bench with the other eliminated people. She had missed everything and had no interest in the game anyways.

She had never been a fan of sports, deliberately choosing to let herself be hit by the ball soon after the game started just so she could escape. She was also prone to “forgetting “ her gym clothes. The school rules said students needed to wear gym clothes to participate in gym class.  Her plan had backfired the first time when Marinette offered to lend her spare outfit.  Alya had made sure Marinette would “forget” she had a spare from now on.

Despite her poor athletic skills, she somehow always managed to make it to wherever Ladybug appeared in record time. Chasing Ladybug was all the exercise she needed. Running from black knights, zoo animals or anything else the akuma of the day had in store proved to be a good way to expend energy as well. 

Gym class finished,  Adrien picked up his bag and was ready to leave for the lunch hour when Nino leaning against his locker, looking pensive, caught his attention. 

“What's the matter?  Feeling guilty you stabbed me in the back? “ the model joked. 

“Bro,  you know I love you,” Nino responded solemnly.  “But I would do it again in a heartbeat. “

Adrien chuckled.  “What is it it then?  You looked concerned a second ago. “

“Nah,  it's nothing.”

“You know you can tell me anything, “ Adrien added, a hand on his friend’s shoulder. 

“Well,” Nino began with a serious expression.  “Do you think ‘babe’ is demeaning?”

“Huh?”  Of all the things he had expected to hear,  Adrien had not expected this. 

“I always call Alya ‘babe’, yeah? I was wondering if it's demeaning or otherwise not cool to call her that?”

Adrien scratched his cheek, unsure what to think of this conversation. 

“What brought this on?  Did she mention anything about this?”

Nino picked up his bag and the two friends left the locker room for the courtyard. Most of the students had already left for lunch.

“No, she never commented on this at all.”

“Then why are you wondering?” Adrien asked with a confused smile. It wasn’t like his friend to worry about petty things like this.

“You see, “ Nino began as he adjusted his glasses. “I was watching Space Jam yesterday…”

“Space Jam? You mean the movie with Bugs Bunny playing basketball?”

“Yup!  And you know how Lola Bunny gets upset when Bugs Bunny calls her ‘doll’? That got me thinking that maybe girls don't like being called ‘babe’?”

Adrien couldn’t help laughing at how ridiculous this talk had become. Leave it to Nino to become pensive about forgotten 90’s movies.

“But ‘doll’ and ‘babe’ aren't the same. Yeah ‘doll’ is kind of demeaning,  like girls are only pretty things to be played with, yeah?  Although I wouldn't personally use the word ‘babe’ either.”

Nino's curiosity was piqued. 

“Oh yeah? If you had a girlfriend, what would you call her?”

“I-I don't know,” the blond boy blushed.  “Her name… I guess?”

“Her name? No nicknames? That's lame, dude.”

Adrien looked away, trying to avoid Nino being able to read his expression. There was no way he could say ‘my lady’. That would be too obvious... 

“Well then,” the shy boy tried. “Maybe ‘princess’?”

“Princess? “ Nino chuckled.  “That’s so cheesy! Just like you!” Realizing his mistake, he added: “Oh, not saying you're cheesy! Well… you kinda are. Oh, but it sounds good when coming from you!”

The way Nino was trying to save face and failing made Adrien laugh some more. 

“You say it’s cheesy, but I say gentlemanly!”

 

#####

 

Alya prided herself in her multitasking skills. Not everyone could handle school,  homework, blogging, reporting, the occasional date and chasing down superheroes. Not to mention being transformed into stuff by akumas or being offered as a sacrifice to Egyptian gods and all that jazz. 

Her phone in her right hand, a sandwich in her left, textbooks in her lap and local news in her ear buds,  Alya was studying for this afternoon's history test while answering comments online. Who had time to study at home when there was Ladybug happening.

“Hey,  Princess. “

Alya’s eyes instantly rose from her books and phone and her hand pulled the earphones from her ears. She turned to Nino's familiar face. 

“What did you call me? “

The boy coughed awkwardly. “Um,  Princess.”

“O-kay…” She thought best not to ask.  “I’m studying for the history test this afternoon.”

Nino walked down the stairs Alya sat on and turned back to her with a knowing expression. 

“Ah yes,  the test I didn't study for. There's no use bothering at this point so I was just gonna go buy lunch.  You coming?”

The girl showed him his half-eaten sandwich and motioned to her books. 

“Nah, I got lunch, plus I'll get in trouble if I get another bad grade. “

“Yeah well,  my mom's expectations are already so low that it wouldn't make a difference for me, “ the boy added in a quiet voice. “Kay, see you later, Princess. “

Alya watched her boyfriend leave the school grounds, repeating to herself.  “Princess?”

Shaking the awkwardness away, she returned to her books and placed the ear buds back in her ears. On the news, the reporter spoke with urgency in her voice. 

“As you can see behind me, cars, bikes and even people seem to be locked into place. The monster seems to create padlocks out of thin air! Oh look, here comes Ladybug!”

At the sound of the magic word,  Alya switched her phone to the news station and pushed her books away,  stuffing what was left of her sandwich in her mouth. Can't go after Ladybug on an empty stomach! 

After confirming the location of the attack, she was already on her way. History test be damned.

Keeping an eye on the news as she ran,  she headed towards the Pont des Amours, where even more padlocks than usual adorned the bridge. 

Mentally demolished when her boyfriend refused to lock a padlock on the bridge with her,  akuma Lockheart was making sure everything and everyone would remained locked together forever. 

Alya knew she had reached the battlefield when she ran passed people stuck to one another with a giant padlock made of light hovering in front of them. There were also people locked to the bridge or to their cars.  Talk about an Akuma with a clingy personality. 

Alya knew she had better watch out that she didn't get locked to anything, or filming the battle would be difficult. 

The girl lit up when finally an akuma covered in locks and chains came into view on the bridge,  with the familiar silhouette of Ladybug facing the villain. 

The young reporter had her phone up at her hero when something caught her eye.  Ladybug had her back to Alya so she couldn't see well,  but it looked like the spotted girl was holding something as she jumped to avoid the akuma attacks. 

A black flash of movement announced Chat Noir’s arrival at the scene.  He joined Ladybug’s side with a leap. 

“Wouldn't it be great if you and I got locked together,  my lady?” Chat Noir was already up to his usual antics,  but his eyes widened in surprise when he took notice of what Ladybug had in her arms.  “Well, well. Looks like I'm too late for that. “

“Unfortunately,  an unexpected package dropped by, “ Ladybug joked with a mild annoyance in her voice. 

Alya couldn't believe her eyes as Ladybug finally turned in her direction, exposing her luggage.

“What the heck?!  Nino?! “

Sure enough, the boy lay like a helpless child in Ladybug’s hold, a glowing lock linking them together. Alya’s call made both Ladybug and him turn towards the blogger. 

“H-hey there! “ Nino gave her a stiff wave,  fully aware of the awkwardness of his situation. 

“How in the world did you get here before me?  And why are you in Ladybug’s arms?”

At that moment, Alya wasn't actually jealous of Ladybug for having her boyfriend close in her arms, not at all. Rather, she was jealous of Nino. The boy was up close and personal with her number one hero and part of that was really awesome somehow. 

And awkward.  Both Ladybug and Nino seemed embarrassed. 

“This guy belong to you? “ Ladybug half-joked at her best friend from a few feet ahead, motioning to Nino with a flick of her head. 

Alya nodded.  “I guess so? “

“He suddenly jumped in the fray and we got hit by the akuma’s lock when I tried to get him out of the way. Now I'm stuck carrying him cause we’re locked to one another and he's too slow to keep up with the battle!”

“My bad!”  Nino apologized with a hand behind his head.

Nino failed to explain he had heard the news of the attack on the radio while he waited in line at a convenience store. He had dashed to the scene knowing full well that Alya was going to come. Getting her attention had worked perfectly the last time he had joined Ladybug, so he was going for number two. Although jumping on a the battlefield with no further plan had been a mistake. Lockhart had aimed for him instantly and Ladybug had to grab him to save him and that’s when the attack had locked them together.

The akuma sent out more padlocks towards Ladybug, Chat Noir and their guest.  This time they were made of metal and the projectiles left a crater where they hit the floor. 

Chat Noir batted one away with his baton just before it could hit his friends. 

“My lady, how are you going to capture the akuma while carrying a damsel in distress?”

Chat Noir’s inner self battled the feeling of jealous he was feeling at seeing his love hang out to another man. He shook the idea out. Not only was it just an accident, but Nino was his best friend and he knew for a fact he had a girlfriend already. Still, what kind of guy would remain unexcited to be in the amazing Ladybug’s arms. Chat Noir would make sure to end this battle quickly so he’d have his lady’s attention back.

Ladybug was indeed greatly inconvenienced by being unable to use both her hands. Jumping back to avoid attacks could only work so many times. Growing frustrated with her luggage, she flung Nino on her shoulder,  holding his legs to steady him with her left hand, leaving her right hand free to use her yo-yo. 

“Dude,  I get it,  but that's not super comfortable, you know?”

“Tough, hero-boy!” Ladybug snapped.

Flipped around, the only thing Nino could see now we're Ladybug’s heels. Well, he also had a great view of her butt, but he forced himself to look away because you don't just stare at your hero’s behind, especially when your girlfriend is right there filming you and certainly not when said hero’s partner is already giving you looks of disapproval. Nino wasn’t sure what the relationship between Chat Noir and Ladybug was, but you wouldn’t just call anyone your lady, after all.

His train of thought was interrupted when the akuma flung more locks at the three of them.

“Everything must be locked so they’ll never try to leave you!”

“Woah,” Chat Noir dodged the projectile and landed on the railing of the bridge. “Maybe she’s the one who needs the restraining order! Lock her up and throw away the key!”

Not amused by her partner’s jokes, Ladybug jumped and double jumped while spinning her yo-yo shield and trying to ignore Nino’s high-pitched shrieks as he dangled like a ragdoll behind her. It was especially scary for him because he could not see what Ladybug was evading or what was coming for them.

He did have a clear view of Alya and her phone in the distance, though. He had to do something cool soon or he’d lose her attention. There was no point being on his girlfriend’s blog if he looked super lame.

Ladybug called her lucky charm, which appeared in the form of a baseball mitt. Confused, she put it on her hand anyways.

“The akuma must be in her necklace!” Chat Noir explained as he pointed to the small, key-shaped ornament the villain was wearing. “She’s always holding it in her hand when she flings those locks!”

After a bit of a struggle, the cat managed to catch the necklace with the tip of his baton and toss it in Ladybug’s direction. She jumped to catch it with the baseball mitt, when the akuma sent a new glowing lock that she received on her foot, effectively locking her in place on the ground. 

“No! The necklace!” Unable to reach far enough, the hero watched in distress as the necklace went passed her head, heading for the river below the bridge.

“I got it!”

Extending himself as much as he could and almost breaking Ladybug’s back in the process, Nino managed to catch the necklace with a finger just before it was lost in the water. He handed it over to the girl with a victory whoop and Ladybug sighed in relief as she snapped its chain.

“I’m freeing you from evil!” The butterfly was soon caught and released.

The bridge repaired itself and the bystanders who had been locked were freed, including Ladybug and Nino, when Alya came running to greet them.

“I believe this is yours,” Ladybug noted as she pushed Nino into Alya’s confused arms.

Not possessing super strength, the reporter quickly dropped the heavier boy. She didn’t have time to bother about that though. Ladybug was right there in front of her and had giving her a present!

Kind of. Not really. But it didn’t matter!

Chat Noir approached the group, his arms hanging behind his baton on his shoulders.

“Looks like Nino saves the day again,” he mused.

“But we wouldn’t have had this problem if he hadn’t showed up,” Ladybug corrected. “No offense,” she added in Nino’s direction.

“None taken.”

The cat sighed. “I guess my lady is right. Better stay out or it could get dangerous.”

“She’s your lady, uh?” Nino asked, holding his chin and completely ignoring Chat Noir’s request.

“My one and only.” Ladybug rolled her eyes while her partner gave her a sly look.

The beep of her hero’s Miraculous prompted Alya to look at the time on her phone.

“Nino, we gotta be in class in 5 minutes or we’ll miss the exam!” Truth be told, she was more upset about not being able to stay to interview Ladybug, but the diligence in her made her worry. “We’ll never be back that quickly.”

Similar distress appeared on the two superheroes’ faces. They had forgotten about the exam too.

There wasn’t time for any making out this time, but Nino still wasn’t going to let an opportunity to make an impression on his busy girlfriend slip by.

“Say, you guys,” he cleverly asked the two heroes just before they turned to leave as he brought Alya closer to him. “This girl here is your number one fan, and I like to think of myself as your number two fan. And these two fans have to be back in class in less than 5 minutes for some mandatory exam. Can you believe this? If only there was some sort of way we could make it back in time and not mess up our academic future… Like, oh I don’t know, two super fast and super generous superheroes?”

Chat Noir sighed but looked amused and Ladybug huffed, then smiled.

Alya’s ecstatic screams ringed in Nino’s ears as Ladybug carried her in her arms from rooftop to rooftop and into the air, while he himself hung to Chat Noir’s back. She tried to film the scene so she could have a memento of _the best day ever_ but she would later find out the video came out all blurry because of the speed. 

It was also a pretty sweet day for Nino too.  Alya’s laughter was like music to him, and hey, riding on Chat Noir’s back and racing through the city was pretty awesome too. A bit scary, but definitely awesome.

It felt too soon when the superheroes dropped off their passengers in front of the school gate and quickly dispersed in opposite directions.

After throwing herself at Nino’s neck in pure happiness, Alya ran off towards their classroom, still high on excitement, with a very content boyfriend behind her.

Settling in her usual seat, Alya hunched forward the desk in front of her. “Did I ever tell you you’re awesome?”

Nino hung his head back at her with a grin.  “I’m not sure. Better tell me again.”

“You’re awesome!”

The boy laughed, feeling warm.

Just then, Adrien came in running as the bell rang. Nino had been too pleased with himself to notice his best friend had been missing. Adrien’s arrival also reminded Alya that Marinette was still not here, but she was relieved when she saw her own best friend sneak in discreetly while their teacher was busy passing along the sheet for the exam.

“Where were you?” Alya whispered.

“Uh, bathroom?”

“Oh my god,” the girl went on. “You wouldn’t believe what happened to me during lunch break!”

Nino mentally pat himself on the back for a job well done as Alya enthusiastically explained with pure delight how awesome it had been when Ladybug had taken her for a ride above Paris.

 

#####

 

The next morning, Marinette was hurrying to copy Alya’s homework before Ms. Bustier got in. Busy evening, no time for homework, I’ll owe you one, she had said. Marinette was fully concentrated on writing down Alya’s answers as fast as she could, but her head shot up as soon as she heard these familiar words.

“My lady.”

Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she looked around, wondering where Chat Noir was or who found out her secret. Similarly, Adrien’s eyes grew wide when he heard his pet name for Ladybug coming out of someone else’s mouth.

“Awesome blog post, yesterday.”

Marinette hid a sigh of relief when she realized the greeting had not been directed at her, and Alya had been just as surprised when Nino sat casually in his seat, looking back to his girlfriend.

“My lady?” she repeated with a puzzled look at the boy in front of her.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “It’s classier than ‘babe’, right? And ‘Princess’ just didn’t sound right.” She was Lady Wifi, after all, so ‘my lady’ could apply to her just as much as it did Ladybug.

“It does have a nice ring to it.” Alya rested her chin in her hand pensively. “But don’t overuse it or Chat Noir might get jealous.”

“Hey,” Nino retorted, “He has his lady, I have mine.”

Marinette and Adrien both hid a blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really wanted to have Nino copy Chat Noir's "my lady"...
> 
> Here's more random DJWifi art I made: http://sapphireluna.deviantart.com/art/ML-DJWifi-2-606272597
> 
> Next chapter whenever I can. Feedback welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nino is on the naughty list but also is too pure for this world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is nothing like I had planned when I started it, but I still think it came out really good.
> 
> Also, there is art.

Nino had a list.

A secret list that existed only in his head of the things he wanted to do with Alya. Or rather, the things he wanted to do to Alya. The items on the list started innocently, and then gradually grew more suggestive. He mentally checked them off as they happened.

Number 1: Hold her hand - _Check_  
That one had been easy, it happened while they were trapped in the panther’s cage together. His hand had simply found its way into hers without neither of them realizing.

Number 2: Kiss her - _Check_  
Another easy one. Literally the day after the Animan incident, they hung out together casually and their lips had met in a quick peck when they least expected it, before they simply resumed their conversation.

Number 3: Kiss her with tongue - _Check_  
Alright that one had been a bit trickier. He had never truly kissed a girl before and he had been nervous, wondering when was the correct time to do it or if he would be perceived as pushy if he tried. He quickly realized his fear was unfounded when it was Alya who pushed him against a wall after growing impatient with his hesitation.

Number 4: Kiss her neck and/or shoulders - _Check_  
After discovering that Alya had literally almost no boundaries and wasn’t adverse to physical contact at all, that magical summer day where she had shown up in a tank and ponytail, he had helped himself shamelessly.

Number 5: Return the favor - _Unchecked_  
This is where Nino was at currently. What he called returning the favor was simple. When they kissed, Alya had a habit of pressing a hand to his chest, even going as far as stroking her fingers against it. So he wanted to...you know...return the favor…

Number 6: Nino you’re getting ahead of yourself you’re only sixteen-going-on-seventeen oh my god stop--

Nino shook his head and rubbed his flushed cheeks. The middle of class was not a good time and place to be thinking about the list!

A vibration in his pocket reminded him of the empty seat behind him. Alya was absent due to sickness today. Nino had been discreetly texting her without the teacher seeing, to keep her entertained while she stayed in bed. His head bent down to look at the phone in his lap, he missed Ms Bustier turning towards him.

“Mister Nino, would you mind sharing whatever is so important that it can’t wait recess with the class?”

The boy jumped, but decided to play it cool.

“If you insist.” Nino took out his phone and began reading casually. “I said: hope you’re resting at least. Alya said: Yeah but I’m super bored. Wish you were here with me. Then I said: oh what would you do if I were there with you? Winking emoji. Now she’s saying: If you were here I would make you...woah! Sorry I can’t finish that sentence out loud!”

The other students either laughed or blushed. Ms. Bustier rolled her eyes.

“Just put your phone away please, Mister Nino.”

The sentence was really ‘If you were here I would make you go get me a glass of water’, but nobody had to know that…

After school, Nino called his girlfriend with Marinette right behind him. They both wanted to know how she was doing and maybe they’d go see her.

“Hey, babe. I mean, my lady! Hope you’re okay. I got your BFF here with me and we’re wondering if you’d like a get-better visit?”

The sick girl sniffled and tossed another soiled tissue on the growing pile next to her bed.

“Thanks, but my mom is home now so I’ll be fine,” Alya wheezed before coughing. “And I don’t want you two to catch my cold. Besides, I just took medication and I’m feeling really drowsy, I’d only sleep in your face if you came.”

“Alright, you sleep in that case. I’ll text you later or something.”

“Tell her I’ll call her tonight!” Marinette chimed in.

“I heard that,” Alya chuckled weakly. “Tell Marinette I’ll call her myself instead. Don’t know how long I’ll be out at this rate.”

“Kay. Take care, alright? See ya.” Nino sighed and put his phone in pocket. “She says she’ll call you instead. Sounds like she’ll be sleeping for a while.”

“Good, she needs to rest,” Marinette nodded. “I hope she’ll be good enough to come to school tomorrow.”

Nino snickered. “Definitely. You know her; she can’t survive long without being where the action is.”

The two friends waved goodbye and went their own way home.

#####

Alya had set the alarm on her phone for 6PM. She couldn’t waste all evening sleeping, but most of all, the news were on at six and as a future reporter, she had to be up to date with everything going on where she lived. She rarely missed the news, whether it was on TV, online or the radio.

However, after the medication, the fever and the exhaustion, Alya was so knocked out, she slept through the alarm. Alerted by the beeping sound that wouldn’t turn stop, her mother had come in to turn the alarm off, deciding her daughter needed the rest.

When Alya awoke sluggishly later, she reached for her phone as was always her first reaction. Vision blurry without her glasses, she rose with a start when she saw the time.

8:47 PM???

She dashed to the kitchen where her mom was cleaning up. The woman turned at the sound of her daughter’s loud footsteps and smiled.

“How are you feeling, dear? There’s dinner in the fridge for you.”

“Mom!” Alya whined. “Why didn’t you wake me?!”

“Your alarm rang for three minutes and you slept through it. You’re sick, you needed to sleep.”

The girl grunted. “Ugh. Did you see the news? Was there anything worth seeing?”

Ms. Césaire wiped a plate, concentrating on the design of the china as if it were the first time she ever saw it. “Well…”

Alya did not like her mother’s hesitation at all.

“There was, wasn’t it.”

The master chef turned to place the clean plate on the cabinet shelf. There was no way she could lie to her daughter. Not when Alya had all information at her fingertips in the blink of an eye.

“Um, Ladybug was on the news.” She had said the taboo word. God save her now. “There was an attack at the Eiffel Tower.”

“Moooom!” Alya moaned and stomped her feet. “How could you! How can you let me sleep when Ladybug is out there? I totally missed it! Now I have no video for my blog and I’ll have to scavenge like a vulture through local news articles for content to use on my post!”

“Excuse me, young lady, but there was no way I would have let you go out with a fever anyways! That blog of yours is not more important than your health! Now, eat your dinner and go rest some more. You’re still red in the face.”

Alya grabbed the plate her mother had prepared for her and stomped back to her room, mumbling to herself.

“And drink lots of liquid!” her mother called out as the teenager slammed the door to her room.

The young reporter’s fingers were already firing away at her keyboard, bringing up all the articles online about the recent Ladybug sighting. An akumatized janitor, giant mops, toxic products, a broken Eiffel Tower...Man, she had missed something awesome! Stupid cold.

The news site only had good pictures of Ladybug taken after the battle, once everything was calm. Pictures of the actual fight were few and taken from far away. Those wimpy reporters never dared to get too close. Pushovers!

Alya hated using pictures from other websites. There were copyright issues, but also it removed any sense of pride and authenticity in her work. She was so good at capturing the best angles and the most awesome fighting scenes that local newspapers had asked to buy her pictures from her quite a few times. She’d sometimes say yes, but always kept the best shots for herself.

She sighed, drumming her fingers on her desk loudly as she opened up her blog, ready to write a subpar article about a battle she had not witnessed. Lost in her dark thoughts, she did not hear the doorbell. Thankfully, her mother did.

“Alya, there’s someone here for you!”

“Thanks, Ms. C! Don’t worry, I know the way.”

By the time she had registered the familiar voice, a knock was on her bedroom door and Nino let himself in without waiting for an answer.

“Nino? What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise as she got up from her seat at the computer.

The boy gave her a two-finger salute before closing the door behind him.

“Sup, my lady? Sorry for showing up so late without warning, but you didn’t answer my texts.”

Alya let herself fall on her bed. “Ugh, I haven’t checked my phone in hours, can you actually believe that?”

Her boyfriend sat on the edge of the bed, first observing her pained expression, then his gaze falling to the satin pajamas she was wearing, and then to the countless balls of used tissues scattered everywhere.

“You know you’re still beautiful even when you’re sick?”

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Alya sat up and bashfully pushed locks out her face. She was now aware of her messy bed hair, her red nose, broken voice and tired eyes. That was the least of her issues right now though.

“Now isn’t the time for that,” she grunted.

“What’s wrong? You look upset?” Nino asked with concern.

His girlfriend let herself slump down on her bed once more, staring at the ceiling.

“I slept all evening and missed Ladybug! She was out there earlier and I slept through it! I got no videos, no pictures, nothing! I disgust myself.”

“Girl, you are sick,” Nino stated as he placed a hand on hers. “It’s not your fault. And dude, you can’t go out with a fever! Imagine you faint and Ladybug has to scoop you up?”

“That would be amazing.”

“Good point, bad example…”

Alya huffed and turned her back to Nino. She felt too grumpy to face him. Feeling daring, the boy lied down behind her, an arm over her waist. His girlfriend was too caught up in her misfortune to feel the boy’s breath against her neck or his legs intertwined with hers.

“I suck. I’m a terrible reporter.”

Nino sighed. “Now you’re just being ridiculous. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” There was a short pause before he continued on a brighter note. “Hey, you know what would be awesome?”

“Being able to go back in time?” the girl scoffed.

“No, although that would be cool,” he chuckled. “But I meant if someone had been at the Ladybug battle and took videos.”

“I already checked all news sites, their videos all suck.”

“Yeah, but what if someone else had been there?” His crooning voice suddenly echoed in Alya’s ears. “You know, someone who is used to joining the fray? Someone who knew you couldn’t be there? Someone who--”

Alya literally sprang up, pushing off Nino in the process, before pinning him hard, an oof escaping his lungs under her sudden weight.

“YOU WERE THERE??”

Nino blinked in shock, helpless beneath his girlfriend’s hold, but his expression quickly turned into a crafty smile when he realized his position.

“Well, aren’t you eager tonight...”

Ignoring his flirt, Alya pressed his shoulders harder into the mattress.

“YOU WERE THERE FOR REAL!?” she urged again. “YOU GOT VIDEOS??”

Nino gave her a sly face as he reached in his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. He gave it three taps before shoving it two inches from his girlfriend’s face. On the screen, Alya recognized the akuma she had seen on the news website. She grabbed it from his hands and moved out of his way.

Nino was finally able to sit back up, smiling as Alya scrolled through the video in complete awe. The battle was all there, from beginning to end.

“Sorry my phone isn’t as good as yours, but I did my best to get a good view.”

“Oh my god. Are you kidding? You are a life-saver!” She beamed as she hugged him, before plugging the phone to her computer to transfer the data. “Why didn’t you just tell me when you got here?”

 “You know me. I like building the suspense.”

 Alya handed the phone back as the transfer was over. “But why did you bother doing it?”

The proud boy straightened his hat and gave her a knowing look. “Babe, please. I had a feeling you wouldn’t show up, being sick and all. So I dashed over there as soon as I heard. I just happened to be nearby and I know how important this is to you. Didn’t want you to miss out.” Nino scratched the bridge of his nose. “I’m awesome, I know. “

“Thank you thank you thank you!”

He deliberately fell under her weight again as she jumped to his neck, laughing under a shower of kisses. Who knew risking his life for a video was all it took?

After a dozen kisses, Alya rested her head on his chest softly, catching her breath. A whisper escaped her lips.

“You’re amazing.”

Nino did not reply, the sudden new intimacy blocking his brain functions. His hand felt the soft satin on her back while the fingers on the other hand got tangled in her messy hair. He stared at the ceiling, wondering if this was reality. Never had he imagined he could ever be this content and at ease.

Alya unfortunately broke the magic when she had to sneeze and got up to get herself some tissues. Nino decided to take his leave at that moment, as if he wasn’t allowed this much happiness. It was getting late, too.

“I’m sure you have a blog to update, and my mom will be having a fit if I don’t show up soon. Rest well so I can see you at school tomorrow, alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” the girl sniffled, wiping her nose.

“Let me check.” Nino delicately pressed his lips against her forehead. “Still feels kind of hot. Take care of yourself, my lady.”

Brushing away a blush, Alya saw him out and returned to her bedroom, her mind now filled only with work and Ladybug.

Opening her video editing software, she hummed happily as it loaded up. The footage was almost twenty minutes long, so she had to go through it, picking the best scenes for the Ladyblog.

Her attention was caught on a scene where the akumatized janitor’s broom went flying towards the camera, apparently knocking down Nino because the screen turned black as if the phone had been dropped to the ground. She could hear him swear and grunt as he picked it up and pointed it back at the battle.

Had he been hit?

Further in the video, she smiled to herself when she could hear Nino go “holy shit!” behind the camera as the battle got more intense while Ladybug and Chat Noir were trying to get to the victim’s mop where the evil butterfly should have been.

Once the akuma had been defeated, Alya could see Nino’s point of view as he ran towards the two heroes, stopping them just before they took off.

“Wait!” he huffed, in the video. “My girlfriend Alya couldn’t be here today cause she’s home sick.. Could you say something to her, guys? You’d make her day!”

Ladybug had looked straight at the camera with a bright smile and said: “Hi Alya! I hope you feel better soon!” and Chat Noir had added: “Yeah, it’s not the same without you here getting into trouble!”

Alya couldn’t believe her eyes and ears as she watched, dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe Nino had done that for her! But there was more, the video hadn’t stopped. The girl watched as her boyfriend flipped the phone around, talking directly into it.

“Hey, my lady! You’re probably asleep right now and that’s probably for the best. Don’t worry, I got you covered! I hope that was good enough for you! Love ya!”

The video had reached the end, but Alya continued to stare at the screen, a strange feeling swelling inside her. It was a mix of ‘I am so lucky to have this guy’ and guilt.

Lucky because Nino was obviously too good for this world, and guilt because he was trying so hard for her while she was hardcore neglecting him on a daily basis. She had no trouble endangering herself for her own hunger for information, but when others endangered themselves for her sake, she was disconcerted.

Unable to contain her feelings, she texted him.

_You are such an idiot, you know that?_

_Nino: yeah, but I’m your idiot ;)_

_god i freakin love you_

_Nino: likewise, babe_  
_Nino: *my lady_

At the bottom of the newly-written Ladyblog article, one could read: Video courtesy of my favorite idiot.

As she had promised to do, Alya then called Marinette.

“Hey girl. You’ll never believe what my dork of a boyfriend did today!”

The next day, Alya was back at school, feeling 100% energized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for comments/kudos!
> 
> Next chapter is probably the last. This was meant to be short.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you get your money's worth of DJWifi goodness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter! There is only so much of this I can write before it gets repetitive.

There had been another akuma sighting where Nino had jumped into the action, hindering, yet somehow helping, the local heroes. However, this time Ladybug had politely, but firmly, told the wanna-be hero to stay out next time. Sure he brought up clever ideas or helped with finding the object the akuma was hiding in, but more importantly, Ladybug and Chat Noir were always on edge about his safety when he was with them.

“We already got enough on our hands without having to look out for you, buddy,” Ladybug had explained.

And just like the other times he had been told to butt out, Nino had apologized for the trouble, but with absolutely no intentions to stop.

Alya was paying attention to him, even blogging about him. She kept repeating how awesome he was. She spent more time with him. As far as he was concerned, it was all worth it.

Whistling to himself, he scrolled through the comments of the latest article on the Ladyblog. There were those who complimented his bravery, and those who thought he was stupid for interfering, and then there was this comment which made him snicker:

_Cutieangel17: your bf is cute. If he’s looking for a new girlfriend i’m here_

_Mod: Back off he’s mine!_

His male ego was stroked, but unfortunately for Cutieangel17, he wasn’t planning on looking for a new girlfriend anytime soon. Though he did appreciate the fact he had a couple of fangirls now...

#####

Nino was on his way to make an errand for his mom after reluctantly agreeing (she could be quite convincing). Moving to the beat of the music in his headphones, he danced his way to the local shop, but never got to go inside.  
A raccoon-like teen, mask and tail, crashed out of the shop, yelling something about not being a shoplifter. That was a stretch to believe as the newly created Akuma scurried away, bills of money escaping the black bag he carried over his shoulder.

A few bystanders couldn’t help picking up the bills, either wondering if it was real money or wanting to make a quick buck.

Both ideas failed when the paper money stretched larger and wrapped around the persons who had held it in their hands. Unable to move, they fell down like rolled up carpets and tried to wriggle free, in vain.

Witnessing the whole scene, Nino was relieved the others had been quicker than him to touch the notes. (If anyone asked, he’d say he was way too virtuous to take money from the street.) 

Nearby, the raccoon akuma cackled as more people down the street unable to resist free money got trapped.

“Greedy humans! All of you! If you love money so much, then be thankful you get to be together forever!”

“I wouldn’t put my money on that!”

Both the akuma and Nino turned in shock and relief, respectively, at Chat Noir’s showy appearance, standing on a tall street light. Ladybug followed suit but she huffed in disapproval when she noticed Nino standing idly among the trapped victims.

“Again?” She rolled her eyes and motioned to her partner who was already engaging the newly dubbed akuma Cooper in battle. “Handle this a minute, I need to take care of this guy!”

Chat Noir deflected a flurry of bills by rotating his baton. “Go easy on him, my lady. He doesn’t mean to get in the way.” The hero was too busy to watch his best friend’s fate and had to keep his attention to the akuma.

Nino actually took a step back when Ladybug jumped off her perch directly in front of him, her eyes not reflecting their usual friendliness. She looked like someone whose path you better not cross.

“Um, hey, LB. What’s up?”

“I thought I told you to stay out of the battles! I’ve had it with you interfering!” She put her hands on her hips like an angry mom. “And yet here you are again?”

“No, no! It’s a misunderstanding, man!” the poor boy babbled, agitating his hands in front of him. “This time I swear I just happened to be there! Honest! I was just going to the store and--”

“I don’t want to hear it. I’ll have you keep out of the way this time, whether you like it or not!”

Nino gasped as he was lifted off the ground, Ladybug grabbing him and throwing her yo-yo at a nearby tree branch. “Hey, what are you doing!” he yelped as they were both pulled in the air.

Herself hanging from her wire , she hung Nino on the tree by slipping the end of a branch under his t-shirt. The boy now dangled helplessly in the air, the branch coming out from the opening for his head and poking him in the neck. Satisfied, Ladybug withdrew her wire and jumped off.

“LB! You’re not really leaving me like this, are you?” Nino tried to wriggle free, but he was thoroughly stuck. “Alya will be here soon, for sure! I can’t let her see me like this! If I don’t do something cool, she’ll lose interest!”

Ladybug blinked once in confusion, before the pieces were put into place in her brain and she frowned.

“Is that what this is all about? Impressing Alya?” The girl gave a loud groan. “You mean you’ve been purposely throwing yourself in danger all this time just so she would think you’re cool? ”

“Well, kinda, yeah.” Nino’s feet swung back and forth as he grew embarrassed. “But you don’t understand! She’s always chasing you or writing her blog about you or talking about you! Oh, don’t get me wrong, I think you’re awesome too! But she never has time for me, it’s always about Ladybug, all day every day. Since she’s always looking at you, in one form or another, she’d have to see me too if you and I were at the same place!”

Ladybug stared in disbelief. That was one of the stupidest things she had ever heard. That guy really had it bad for Alya, though. Then again, Marinette knew how obsessed her best friend could get about her alter ego. It wasn’t too farfetched to believe Nino was telling the truth about being severely neglected in favor of Ladybug. Although he was definitely going about it the wrong way.

“This might sound crazy,” the hero began sarcastically, “but have you tried, I don’t know, talking about it with her rather than directly throwing yourself in the line of fire?”

“I…” The boy now hung motionless on his branch. “Well, not exactly, I guess…”

Ladybug gave a strong sigh. “Listen, I gotta go help Chat Noir. We’ll continue this discussion later.” With that, the superhero ran off to join the battle.

“Wait!” Nino wailed. “You can’t leave me like this!”

The girl was already avoiding wads of cash that Cooper fired and no longer heard him. 

“You’re back, my lady, “Chat Noir smiled. “Let’s give this raccoon a run for his money!”

The akuma now had a shield made of bills and had switched to shooting coins out of a bazooka made of rolled up notes. There seemed to be an infinite amount of money coming out of Cooper’s bag so the heroes decided the akuma must be hiding in there. The carpet of bills accumulating on the floor might have seemed appetizing if it weren’t for the fact that touching it trapped you like a sausage roll.

Meanwhile, Nino had stopped trying to wriggle free because doing so would only result in either getting his favorite shirt ripped or result in him slipping out of his shirt and finding himself shirtless in a public space after plummeting down from a few meters. Neither were appealing so he’d just wait for someone to come get him.

Almost right on cue, Alya showed up on the scene, breathing heavily after running the entire way as soon as she heard the name Ladybug on the news. She whipped out her phone, filming the millions of Euros blowing in the wind ahead of her.

“Woah. Imagine all the amazing phones I could buy with that.”

She thought better then picking any of it up when she saw the akuma shuffling more bills around and the people rolled up in the paper squirming on the ground.

“Alya!”

Hearing her name, the girl looked left and right in confusion, unable to locate where the familiar voice came from.

“Over here!”

Raising her head (and phone), she finally caught sight of her pitiful looking boyfriend up in a tree.

“Nino?” she exclaimed in surprise. 

“Hey there, how’s it going?” Nino said as smoothly as someone hanging from a tree could.

“Why the hell are you hung like laundry up there?”

“Nevermind that.” The boy swung his legs in frustration. He hated for Alya to see him in such an inelegant position, but she was the only person available right now. “Could you get me down?”

Alya looked at Ladybug fighting in the distance, then back at Nino. “You mean right now? But Ladybug--”

“Please!” he pleaded.

The girl sent one more desperate look towards Ladybug and Chat Noir and sighed, before walking backwards to the tree, making sure her phone remained pointed at the battle. Once her back hit the tree, Alya ‘s mind searched for scenarios where she could climb a tree while still filming Ladybug but the answered was always: this is not physically possible. She considered holding the phone in her mouth and tilting her head in hopes she could catch some of the fight that way, but didn’t want to risk dropping and breaking it or slobbering over it.

Her phone in her pocket, Alya cursed her lack of athletic skills or agility as she grabbed the trunk and tried to hoist herself up. She had about twice her own height worth of climbing to do, and although she was not scared of heights, she was somewhat scared of strenuous physical effort that did not involve superheroes. She was capable of incredible physical feats when Ladybug was involved, but otherwise she struggled with exercising. After many unhappy grunts and huffs under his cheering, she managed to reach the branch Nino was stuck on. 

She flinched when the branch lowered under her added weight, but thankfully it was sturdy enough to support her. Alya crawled her way to Nino, pulling herself on the branch until she got to him. He twisted his head up to grin at her.

“Alright, you made it!”

However, he quickly returned his gaze to the ground to hide a blush when her angle above him gave his eyes a perfect view of her cleavage. Now really wasn’t the time.

“Okay, how am I gonna do this?” That was a rhetorical question because Alya gave no warning before simply grabbing Nino’s shirt and pushing it off the branch is one brusk movement.

The boy suddenly fell down with a yelp and rolled on the grass below when his legs were not prepared to hit the ground so soon.

“Oh man! Are you alright?” Alya asked in actual concern.

Nino rubbed his knee and gave her a shaking thumbs up. “Uh, yeah, totally.”

“Great cause you’re going to catch me.”

“Uh?”

Alya threw herself down the tree with no further notice and Nino’s brain had just enough time to assess the situation and grab her, although the sudden surprise made him fall back.

The girl twisted around and found herself right on top of him in a position that would make any love comedy anime proud. However she ignored any romanticism or Nino’s cheeky “Hey there, come here often?” and right away got to her feet, pulling out her phone and resuming her filming.

Sadly, the battle with the akuma had already been completed, Cooper turned back into a confused teenager all traces of money vanished. All was not lost though, because Ladybug and Chat Noir were headed right towards the duo. 

“Oh, Ladybug!” Alya shouted excitedly. “What were your thoughts about the battle? Did Chat Noir make tons of money-related puns?”

“Oh, you can bet I told him to put his money where his mouth was!” Chat Noir laughed.

“Sorry, Alya,” the spotted hero began, “I came here to discuss something else.” She turned to Nino. “Sorry about earlier. Are you okay?”

“A little bruised is all…”

Ladybug nodded at him then crossed her arms with a severe look on her face. “Alright, you two. We gotta do some talking.” She put her hand on Alya’s shoulder and motioned to Nino with her head. “This boy here is so in love with you, he was willing to throw himself in harm’s way just so you’d notice him more. He put himself in danger on purpose so you would look at him. I can’t deal with the burden of protecting him on top of everything else, so please do something about it.”

“Nino, is that true?” Alya asked with eyes showing a mix of trouble and confusion.

“Yeah...I guess?” Nino rubbed the back of his neck. “I know you’re all about Ladybug 99% of the time, so I figured if I wanted you to pay attention to me I had to be where Ladybug was...or something? I don’t know man, but it seemed like it was working?” He turned to the heroes. “Is it really such a big deal?”

“No more getting involved in the battles!” Chat Noir chimed in. “Even if you were kind of cool sometimes.”

“Don’t encourage him, Chat Noir!” Ladybug corrected. “It’s not safe for Nino, or for us.”

“You did that just because you thought I wasn’t paying attention to you?” Nino nodded and Alya gave his arm a squeeze. “You’re so silly!” Then she paused, a pensive and remorseful look on her face. “I guess it’s true I have been neglecting this relationship…”

“This dude loves you so much,” Chat Noir added, a fond look towards his best friend. “Do you think you could spend more time with him and less time getting the both of you in trouble?”

“It’s not that I don’t _want_ to spend time with him!” Alya explained, growing more upset. “But I really want to film you, Ladybug! For my blog, for myself, for the sake of information, even! I want to see everything! I can’t be a good reporter if I don’t have exclusivity and…”

Nino put both hands on his girlfriend’s shoulders and look at her sympathetically. “It’s okay, Alya. I understand. I did something really stupid. We’ll just spend time together whenever you’re not busy. I can wait, I’m patient.”

There was an awkward silence between the four teenagers, each of them wondering what the perfect solution to this issue could be. Was there a way Alya and Nino could both get what they wanted?

“I got it!” Ladybug clapped her hands together. “Consider this: a Ladybug date.”

The others, including Chat Noir, gave her a puzzled look so she explained further.

“Alya, as a future reporter you won’t be the one holding the camera. You’ll be the one doing the talking and being the face of the show, right? And Nino, you like making movies and music, yeah? How about you two work as a team? Nino, you do the filming and Alya, you do the presenting! From a safe distance, mind you.”

A smile grew on the couple’s faces. The idea was so simple and made so much sense that neither thought to ask how come Ladybug knew so much about their respective hobbies.

“Yeah, that could work!” Alya beamed. “I wouldn’t have to worry about constantly holding a phone while I interview you!”

“It would be awesome to film both my hot girlfriend and the heroes of Paris at the same time!” Nino laughed. “And we would spend tons of time together that way!”

“And you’d be able to keep said girlfriend and yourself out of our paws!” Chat Noir added with a snicker. “If you promised to be good from now on, I’ll give you an exclusive interview next time, how about it?”

Alya looked at Nino and he could swear she was the sun at that very moment, radiant and beautiful.

“Well, will you be my partner, Nino?”

The boy took her hand and kissed the top of it. “I’ve always been your partner, my lady.”

Chat Noir hissed. “Hey, stop stealing my style!”

#####

That night, Alya edited what little footage she had managed to capture of today’s battle. She picked a few scenes that would go on the Ladyblog, before her attention was caught by the short clip she had taken of Nino stuck in the tree.

She decided not to include that on her blog. Because she did not want to humiliate her boyfriend in front of millions of viewers, but also because Nino’s shirt stuck on the branch had ridden almost all the way up as a result of his struggling. Alya pursed her lips and thanked God for HD as she zoomed in on the dark skin of his bare back and the curve of his hip bone. He didn’t quite have any formed abs to show, but the dip between his hip and stomach was still quite alluring to the teenage girl, as was the black treasure trail sticking out of the line of his boxers.

Alya hurriedly exported that scene and hid it in her personal folder.

#####

From then on, as soon as a new akuma surfaced in the city, Alya and Nino gave each other a knowing grin. It meant it was time to go to work! The two teammates always made it to the Ladybug sighting in records time and got a front row seat to the battle (while still remaining at a safe distance!).

Nino manned the camera (actual tripod and HD camera they had bought together, no more shaky phone footage!) while Alya commented the battle and questioned bystanders. Ladybug and Chat Noir were also much more eager now to give a short interview after the fight, as if they wanted to check up on good friends at the same time…

Being able to share her passion, share such a huge part of her life with someone else made Alya very happy. She now had a comrade, an accomplice that would follow her anywhere. She was actually ashamed she had never thought of asking Nino to join her, choosing to do everything on her own. She no longer had to take on all the responsibilities and the risks alone and Nino and her had grown that much closer from it. 

Being able to witness the joy on her face as Alya did what she loved most made Nino feel so privileged and blessed that she chose to share something so important to her with him. He felt like an idiot for opting for a stupid and dangerous plan rather than ask if he could join her in her beloved hobby. And it wasn’t just her, he had fun chasing Ladybug too. They were inseparable now.

Nino was delighted when the ‘About Me’ section of the Ladyblog changed into an ‘About Us’ section. And Alya was pleased at the selfies of Nino and herself took at the scene of each Ladybug appearance that she had decided to add at the bottom of each article now, as a sort of signature.

Nino was in charge of the video editing, which removed a huge workload off Alya’s shoulders. Editing had always been a necessary evil that she could now avoid to concentrate on writing better articles. The boy was also adding his own remix music to the montage, with a discreet link to his channel on the blog. His popularity soared and he was sometimes asked to do small DJ gigs. He was now even known as the ‘Ladybug DJ’ among music enthusiasts. 

Or sometimes they would do the editing together, making sure to take a makeout break every now and then. Now that their interests were combined into one super project, there was no talk of neglect anymore. (Well, at one point Marinette and Adrien had each gotten a bit jealous, but that had been easily resolved with a bi-monthly scheduled girls night and guys night, respectively.)

With the brand new format of cameraman plus reporter, the Ladyblog had never been so popular. So many comments were posted each day that Alya had made Nino into an admin so he could help moderate them.

The DJ took his job seriously, especially since Alya appeared in every video now and comments akin to ‘I love you, Alya! Marry me!’ and ‘Alya you’re so hot, here’s my number’ were commonplace. Nino made a point to delete those kinds of comments as soon as they appeared because, you know, hands off my girlfriend. These were spam anyways, right?

Oh, but he conveniently forgot to remove comments such as ‘Nino, you’re the cutest’ and ‘We want more Nino please!’....

#####

Another battle finished, Nino and Alya watched Ladybug and Chat Noir disappear into the sunset. The superhero duo had given the interview of a lifetime to the reporting duo just before leaving, one in which they actually discussed their relationship (Strictly professional, Ladybug has said, but Chat Noir had argued the opposite). A story like that was sure to get the fans wild!

Even Alya took a while to calm down her own fangirling about it. She knew her followers were especially craving that kind of gossip fuel. This article was going to be so awesome! Maybe the best one yet!

“Nice work again, partner!” she beamed.

“Likewise, partner. Wanna go home and work on that sweet interview?” Nino offered with honest excitement.

Alya looked at her phone, then at Nino’s genuine smile and shook her head.

“You know what,” she began as she put her phone away, even going as far as turning the power off before pushing it in her pocket. “We've got all night. Let’s go to that café I’ve been meaning to try around the corner first!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far! It's actually my first Miraculous fic and also my most decent fic! I hope you enjoyed.  
> As always, your feedback is welcomed and needed! I'd love to know what you liked or did not like.  
> See ya some other time, maybe!  
> -Sapphire Luna

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real ML fic. English is not my first language and I'm more of an artist than a writer, but writing is a really zen activity! I appreciate any and all feedback!


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